{{Short description|British merchant and Tory politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Sir William Lewen''' (c. 1657 – 1722), of Ewell, Surrey, was a British merchant and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1708 and 1722. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1717.
==Early life== Lewen was the second son of Robert Lewen of Wimborne Minster, Dorset. His elder brother George set up as a merchant at Poole, while he himself went to London where he became a wine importer. He was a member of the Haberdashers Company. He married Susannah Taylor daughter of Robert Taylor, vintner of the Devil Tavern and of Turnham Green, Middlesex, on 30 July 1685.<ref name=Ewell>[http://www.epsomandewellhistoryexplorer.org.uk/Lewens.html Epsom and Ewell History ExplorerThe Lewens 'of Dorsetshire' and Ewell, Surrey]</ref>
==Career== By 1696, Lewen was deputy-governor of the Royal Lustring Company.<ref name = HOP>{{cite web| url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/lewen-william-1657-1722| title = LEWEN, William (c.1657-1722), of St. Swithin's, London, and Ewell, Surr.| publisher = History of Parliament Online (1690-1715)| accessdate = 16 December 2018| archive-date = 18 December 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181218075553/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/lewen-william-1657-1722| url-status = dead}}</ref> which dealt in a particular type of silk which was associated with the Huguenots.<ref name= Plummer>{{cite book |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=TQb8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA139 |page=139|title= The London Weaver's Company 1600 – 1970 |author= Alfred Plummer |publisher = Routledge | date= 2013 |isbn=9781136583919|accessdate = 17 December 2018}}</ref> In January 1698 he received a royal pardon for trading with France during the war.<ref name=HOP/> Although the company was given a Royal Charter in 1698, its fortunes declined with changing fashions.<ref name=Plummer/>
Lewen was Common Councillor for Billingsgate from 1700 to 1703. By 1706 he was living at Ewell and subsequently purchased an estate there.<ref name=Ewell/> In December 1707 he tried to become an Alderman but was unsuccessful. However; next year in 1708, he was elected Alderman for Castle Baynard, remaining for the rest of his life.<ref name=ALD1>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/london-aldermen/hen3-1912/pp119-140 |title='Chronological list of aldermen: 1701-1800', in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 119-140 | author= Alfred P Beaven |publisher= British History Online| accessdate = 14 December 2018 }}</ref> At the 1708 general election, he was returned as Member of Parliament for Poole, when his brother was mayor there. He became Master of the Haberdashers in 1709 but was one of the unsuccessful Tory candidates for a directorship of the East India Company. He voted against the impeachment of Dr Sacheverell in 1710.<ref name=HOP/>
Although Lewen did not stand for Poole at the 1710 general election, he was returned at a by-election on 7 March 1711. He was a Colonel in the Blue Regiment of the City Militia from 1711 to 1714 and was Sheriff of London for the year 1712 to 1713. He was knighted on 17 December 1712.<ref name=ALD1/> In Parliament, he voted against the ministry over the French commerce bill on 18 June 1713. He was returned unopposed as Tory MP for Poole at the general elections of 1713<ref name=HOP/> and 1715.<ref name = HOP2>{{cite web | url = http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/lewen-sir-william-1657-1722 | title = LEWEN, Sir William (c.1657-1722), of Ewell, Surr. | publisher = History of Parliament Online (1715-1754) | accessdate = 16 December 2018 | archive-date = 18 December 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181218054519/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1715-1754/member/lewen-sir-william-1657-1722 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
==Death and legacy== thumb|St Mary's Church, Ewell Lewen died without issue on 16 March 1722, shortly after Parliament was dissolved and was buried at St Mary Ewell. His heir was his nephew George Lewen. His wife Susannah died in 1737.<ref name=HOP2/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|gb}} {{s-bef | before = Samuel Weston | before2 = Sir William Phippard }} {{s-title | title = Member of Parliament for Poole | years = 1708–1710 | with = Thomas Ridge }} {{s-aft | after = Sir William Phippard | after2 = Thomas Ridge }} {{s-bef | before = Sir William Phippard | before2 = Thomas Ridge }} {{s-title | title = Member of Parliament for Poole | years = 1711–1722 | with = Sir William Phippard | with2 = George Trenchard 1713 }} {{s-aft | after = George Trenchard | after2 = Thomas Ridge }} {{s-civ}} {{succession box | title=55px|center Lord Mayor of London |years= 1717-1718 | before= Sir James Bateman | after= John Ward }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewen, William}} Category:1650s births Category:1722 deaths Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Sheriffs of the City of London Category:18th-century lord mayors of London Category:Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Poole Category:British MPs 1708–1710 Category:British MPs 1710–1713 Category:British MPs 1713–1715 Category:British MPs 1715–1722 Category:18th-century British merchants